Ruri Gokou
Ruri Gokō (五更 瑠璃, Gokō Ruri?), also known in the otaku community as Kuroneko (黒猫?, lit. Black Cat) is part of the supporting cast of Oreimo. She is an avid fan of the fantasy seinen series Maschera, and hates anime that focus on moe and cuteness to sell (e.g. Kirino's favorite anime ''Stardust Witch Meruru''). Ruri is very skillful when it comes to gaming, being able to defeat the staff member at the Summer Comiket with relative ease, since she didn't or doesn't really appear stressed when she plays on difficult modes. She is voiced by Kana Hanazawa. Appearance Her choice of fashion is predominantly gothic lolita, and is always dressed in a white frilly top with a black bolero worn over it. She also wears a black skirt with cross-shaped detail and black Mary Janes with gray stockings. She is often seen cosplaying a character from her favourite anime Maschera, wearing a headband with a small red rose adorning each side. Kuroneko is 160 cm tall and weighs 43 kg. Her measurements are B77/W53/H80. She has blue eyes, though she usually wears red contacts in public. Personality Ruri often acts according to the character she poses as (i.e., the Queen of Nightmares, an antagonist in Maschera): snobbish and overly confident of her own aptitude. However, she is in fact socially insecure, and is uncomfortable in talking to other people. Fortunately, she eventually learns to make friends when she enrolls in high school once again. is not named in the anime, only the games.]] Aside from her otaku persona, she is also a caring sister to her younger siblings Hinata Gokou and Tamaki Gokou, whom she constantly tends to while at home. This has led to a single comment also noting thatn she has a little sister complex. However, this comment is most likely untrue. Background Ruri came from a financially-challenged family, and with her parents often away, she is left to take care of her younger sisters Hinata and Tamaki, temporarily leaving behind her studies. Her costume, as proof of her skills in sewing, is completely done by hand, and she also occasionally uses her expertise in sewing to fix her sister's stuffed toys. At one time, Ruri joins the online community Otaku Girls Unite! as Kuroneko, and eventually attends one of its offline meetings, although not expecting to make friends at the said event. Plot 'The Black Cat Cometh' In the offline meeting of Otaku Girls Unite! in Akihabara, Kuroneko joins as one of its participants. Like Kirino, who is also there at the day of the event, Ruri was not able to mingle with the other members of the group, although Ruri appears to be more uninterested to do so compared to Kirino, who is simply taken aback by the occasion. Saori Bajeena, who acts as the moderator of Otaku Girls Unite! soon takes Kuroneko and Kirino (with her brother Kyousuke) to a nearby fastfood chain in order to allow them to introduce themselves properly. The "after party" Saori organized soon becomes heated as the interests of Ruri and Kirino clash, and Saori decides to take them on a short trip across Akihabara. Relationships 'Kyousuke Kousaka' Even though she started off as haughty even toward Kyousuke and despite the fact that Kyousuke at first seems to dislike her, eventually, they seem to get along. They share the same rationality, and seems equally apalled over some of Kirino's childish acts and likes. Later in the manga, they appear to be calling each other on the phone without a particular reason. Kyousuke invites her and her alone to go out on a Maschera convention despite him not being interested in the anime. Even later in the manga, she parodies and denounces in one of her mangas the fetishism Kirino seems to have toward her brother, showing her literally smelling his underpants with an ecstatic expression. Kyousuke noted that she made a mistake because Kirino never called him "Onii-chan"; she reacts by acting shocked and saying she felt sorry for him. She then starts to call him Nii-san and makes showy advances to Kyousuke, parodying the kind of eroge Kirino plays, literally making sexual advances toward him, making Kirino jealous. Near the end, while she gives a call to Kirino, she keeps referring to Kyousuke as Nii-san. Kirino reproaches it to her, complaining that Kyousuke goes "all dere" (meaning to become "lovey dovey") when she calls him like that. Kuroneko then replies by saying, she'll soon enough call him another way. This is shown when Kuroneko attends Kyousuke's school at the start of her high school years, and sure enough, she refers to him as Senpai (a respectful way of addressing a senior). It is shown that before he left for America to drag Kirino back with him that she has heightened feelings for Kyosuke disregarding friendship. Later on in the light novel (as the episodes have not shown it yet), the two become "lovers" and start dating. Ruri really has a lot of love towards Kyosuke, and this is proven during their dating perioud time. However, the fact that it was also her plan to get Kirino to vent her true feelings towards both Kyosuke and Ruri and that her love was also just a tool to help may have been very stressful on her personality. As shown in the light novel, she was so shy (as befits what is defined in her personality) that the whole experience caused her to faint out of stress. However, after the commotion died down, it was implied in the end of Volume 8 that despite their breakup, Kuroneko still loves Kyosuke. Her attempt at seduction was a fair enough implication. 'Kirino Kousaka ' Kuroneko and Kirino seems to disagree on almost anything. She is highly critical on Kirino's favorite anime, Stardust Witch Meruru which according to her is inferior to her favorite anime Maschera due to depending much on cuteness to garner audiences. The two, despite this, know exactly how to imitate each other during a regression or an act of mocking. They know exactly how to get on each other's nerves. Despite Ruri's seemingly hostile relations with Kirino, Ruri considers Kirino as her friend. She tried to win a video game for Kirino in the comiket and acknowledges their frienship to Sena during Kirino's absence. External Links *'Twitter': @kuroneko_daten Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Gokous